292 



THE DWARF PALM. 



cakes are made of it at Kuno. The leaves are used for mats and the 

 best kind of hats in parts of Central Africa. Dr. Baikie states that 

 the most southern station for it is Lukoja. 



The Dwarf Palm (CJiamcerops Tiumilis), in Arab called Doum, is 

 widely spread over the Algerian Tell, and particularly the depart- 

 ments of Alger and Oran. Its presence is a sure indication of good 

 soil, in consequence of the depths of its roots, which form at 3 feet 

 or more below the surface, an inextricable mass, the removal of which 

 renders the clearance of these palms from the soil for cultivation a 

 serious and expensive affair. The dry portion of the alluvial plain 

 of the littoral is that where they most abound, for they would perish 

 in a wet or swampy ground. The value of the leaves has now caused 

 the plant to be encouraged rather than destroyed in localities distant 

 from towns where land is not very valuable. 



Northern Africa generally is covered and infested with this shrub, 

 which multiplies rapidly, and was long the pest and grievance of the 

 colonists, who were obliged to grub it up. But now it has become a 

 useful aid to industry, and, instead of being considered a barren and 

 worthless plant, it has become a source of profit and commerce. 

 Properly prepared, the leaves furnish a fibre which, dyed black, 

 twisted, and curled, furnishes a vegetable hair, that can be employed 

 like horsehair, as a stuffing material in upholstery, or in matting. It 

 possesses two advantages over the animal fibre which have led to its 

 extensive employment, viz. those of being exempt from insect destruc- 

 tion, and 75 per cent, cheaper than horsehair. The leaves are now 

 sold on the spot for about two to two and a-half francs the cwt., and 

 a man can cut say 400 lbs. a day. It is generally the Arabs and 

 Spaniards who apply themselves to this work. The first idea of 

 using the leaves of this indigenous plant of Algeria as a substitute 

 for horsehair in upholstery is due to a M. Averseng, who took out a 

 patent for it in 1847. This manufacturer had great difficulty at first 

 in carrying it into execution, but the necessity for cheap articles, 

 which increases daily, greatly aided him, and established the repu- 

 tation of this substance. If it has not all the good qualities of 

 horsehair, it does not want for suppleness and elasticity, and, mixed 

 with it, greatly reduces the cost of stuffing in beds and furniture. 

 The form in which the raw material is bought for working is after 

 the leaves have been combed or stripped. This is a very simple 

 operation, which requires but cheap tools, and can be carried on by 

 women and children. A good operator on the handful of leaves can 

 prepare 90 lbs. to 100 lbs. of dry fibre, which, at the current price of 

 12 francs the cwt., gives a return of 5J to 6 francs per day, with the 

 mere aid of a child eight or ten years old, to cut off the leaf-stalks 

 and gather the leaves into handfuls. Many native families find their 

 means of existence in this occupation. The men cut and gather the 

 leaves, and the women and children comb and prepare them into 

 fibre. This is a new example of union of the two races in labour, 

 and a hopeful instance of their permanent fusion in the future. 

 The combing or preparing the palm leaves is also a great resource 

 for the French colonists in the period of rest between the harvest and 



